This invention relates to a numerical machine tool control consisting of a multiple processor system and at least one operating panel for input of data and/or commands, in which control states can be interrogated and displayed for diagnostic and servicing purposes.
Computer controls for machine tools have been known for some time (see Siemens-Zeitschrift 1977, No. 8, pages 586-592, for example).
Ancillary devices for servicing and diagnosis are usually provided in such controls for improved operating safety. In one known control, for instance, the central processing unit is provided with a connecting point over which data traffic with the processor can be transacted independently of the central data bus and, hence, independently of the peripheral equipment. The following operations, for example, are possible via appropriate operating and indicating elements: reading and writing of memory cells, stopping the computer upon a certain command, and individual steps in the program.
There are controls today which employ several processors, such as for position computation, interpolation, etc. Provided within the scope of such a multiple processor system always is a so-called master processor which coordinates the individual processors. It is an object of the present invention to be able, in a simple manner, to call up and indicate, in a control with several processors, the state of the overall system at a preselectable point or points of the running program for servicing and diagnostic purposes.